Witness says adult should be arrested for brawl at Camillus youth basketball game

While Camillus police continue to investigate a brawl that broke out Monday at a youth basketball game, at least one witness is saying an adult broke a player’s nose and ought to be arrested.

Tony Ibrahams was at West Genesee Middle school gym watching his son Hassanat play, when the Camillus Youth Basketball Association championship game turned into a brawl. Before it was over Camillus police, state police and Onondaga County Sheriff’s deputies accompanied by a canine unit were at the scene and an ambulance was called.

The ambulance took player Mohammed “Mo” Deb to Upstate University Hospital where he was treated for a broken nose, according to the player’s older brother, Sam Deb. WAVES confirmed it transported someone from the school to the hospital.

Ibrahams said Mo Deb, his cousin’s son, was involved in a foul that turned into a bench-clearing dispute and escalated when an adult entered the fray.

“He tackled the kid,” Ibrahams said. “And sat on him and was choking him. And as he was choking him, he started decking the poor kid in the nose and that’s when he broke his nose.”

Ibrahams said he left the stands, grabbed the adult in a bear hug and pulled him off Mo Deb.

The players, who included his own son, were wrong to turn the game into a fight, Ibrahams said. However, the adult ought to be arrested for what he did; “this is a serious offense,” he said.

Police said the fight started around 7:45 p.m. at the end of the third quarter of the high-school level game. “I believe it all started over a simple foul and things went south from there,” said Camillus Police Capt. Steve Rotunno.

The benches cleared and adults and children came out of the stands, he said. About 30 people were involved, he said. Fists flew and several people received minor injuries. Police brought the crowd under control about 8 p.m., he said.

“Several” people drove themselves to emergency rooms to be checked out, none for an injury considered life-threatening, Rotunno said.

Police are working with the Camillus Department of Parks and Recreation, which co-sponsors the league, and the West Genesee School District, whose buildings host its games, to sort out what happened.

“Our investigation is continuing and if anybody does have any information as to what took place and we haven’t already spoken to them, we’d appreciate them to give us a call at 487-0102 to really determine the facts of what took place up there,” Rotunno said.

Ibrahams said there was a video of the fight and it had been shared with police. Asked about the video, Rotunno said, “we have some evidence.”

West Genesee Superintendent Chris Brown suspended the program’s use of district buildings. The association posted a notice on its Web site saying games and practices were canceled until further notice.

“I understand some people may think I’m overreacting, but once the results of the investigation are able to be made public by the Camillus police, I think people will understand why I made the decision that I made,” Brown said. He plans to meet with association and town officials.

Paul DeLallo founded the Camillus league back in 1962. It began with 60 Cub Scouts, he recalled, and grew to 1,000 boys and girls before he stepped aside. Now in his 80s, he said he’s never seen anything like what happened Monday night.